The Golden Bear takes final walk at the Open

Charlie Mulqueen

The two veteran Americans set out on three over par, seven behind their talented English playing partner.

Nevertheless, the crowds are set to go wild as they salute Jack’s final Open appearance and if Donald is turned on by the magic of it all, you just know Watson won’t fancy having to take a back seat.

When asked yesterday about his favourite memory of playing with Jack, Watson didn’t hesitate: “That was Turnberry when I beat him. I wasn’t thinking about Jack’s situation out there although tomorrow if we’re not playing well, we may be thinking about that as we walk up the last few holes.”

Fearful, perhaps, of sounding churlish, Watson relented and mused: “I always enjoy playing with Jack. I always learn something from playing with Jack Nicklaus, the way he hits balls into greens and I think he has negotiated a golf course better than anyone who has ever played the game.

“It was a wonderful experience playing with Jack today although neither of us played very well. It was disappointing from that standpoint. The warmth and love the crowds over here in Scotland have for him was a wonderful example of how much they respect the man. Jack never wasted a shot. You could count on not too many fingers the shots he had that he wasted. That’s a tribute to not only how well he understood the game but how well he played the game.”

Not surprisingly, Luke Donald was pretty starry eyed about his day although he still focused well enough to shoot a fine round of 68.

“It was a lot of fun out there playing with those two greats,” he said. “The atmosphere was amazing. I enjoyed Jack’s company but I think we were all concentrating on the golf at hand. Jack and Tom wanted to shoot as good a round as I did. There was some light chitchat but it wasn’t anything more than that. I don’t think there was any more distracting groups today than the one I was in so I’m proud of the way I handled it.”

Nicklaus seemed to share Watson’s view concerning his attitude to the week. He insisted that he was “here to play golf, first. Probably realistically, I should say I don’t have much of a chance to do much of anything but I’m not going to. I’ll go out and see if I can shoot a good round tomorrow. I’d like to walk across the bridge on Sunday, not on Friday, so that’s my goal.”

Predictably, Nicklaus milked the crowd and the occasion for everything that was going and the fans were happy to oblige. The packed grandstands cheered him to the echo and he rewarded them with a series of waves and a few little rueful smiles.

“That was very nice, people were terrific,” he reported. “I think all of us in the group, Tom, Luke Donald and myself, enjoyed it. But I feel my age every day, every minute out there. I know exactly how old I am. I’m prepared for what may be my final walk down a major championship golf course tomorrow and especially the 18th hole. I’m here. If I wasn’t prepared, I wouldn’t be here.”

And what does he plan to do before his one o’clock tee time?

“Sleep,” he declared. “I’ll stay up later tonight. I went to bed at 9.30 last night and I’ll probably stay up until midnight and get up at 8.30, 9.30, then take my time and get here.”

There will be many a moist eye in the home of golf come 6 o’clock this evening.